Mend It Month – The Prompts

Mending your clothes when they need some attention is, of course, going to keep them in service in your wardrobe for longer… but a lot of the time, that’s easier said than done! We usually start off with the best intentions – popping whatever needs fixing, finishing or adjusting in a neat little pile and vowing to get to it soon, but then forgetting about it the minute that something new comes up.

That’s why I’ve started Mend It Month – a challenge (of sorts) with the purpose of giving you the kick up the backside that you might need to get to the things that have been languishing at the back of your wardrobe so that they can be brought back into rotation again! Each week of November will come with a new mending prompt, but feel free to do your own thing if you think it would be more helpful that way; you might have enough holes that need darning to last you three weeks – so just pick, choose and personalise Mend It Month to make it suit you!

If you’re joining in, you can use the hashtag

#menditmonth

on Instagram to show off your progress or spread the word – and at the end of November, I’ll be choosing someone who has participated to win a copy of my book – The Little Book of Stain Removal, as a ‘thank you’ for joining in – so make sure to show off your mending!

So, without any more rambling, here are the weekly prompts. Remember that you can customise it as you please – the main idea is that we’re all getting some mending done!

Mending – Week One

This one is very open to interpretation – especially considering the whole project is called mend it month! Here are some suggestions as for what you could do for this category:

Patch holes or tears in wovens, knits or socks (you could give sashiko mending a go)

Ripped knees in jeans which might’ve gotten a little out of hand

Broken zips

Popped seams

Replacing buttons which have fallen off

Fallen hems

Finishing off – Week Two

This week is only really relevant to those of you reading who are dressmakers yourselves, and have one of those notorious unfinished object piles and pretty much just involves any of those projects that you might have left in varying states of disarray shoved away in a corner somewhere because something was bugging you, or you got too excited about starting the next thing:

Adjustments – Week Three

This week is a little more technical – but who said you had to do everything on your own this month? There are plenty of YouTube tutorials out there to help with these sorts of projects if you have faith in yourself, and lots of really reasonably-priced but very experienced tailors about too. While it might be a little bit of an outlay to get something professionally altered, or frustrating having to do it yourself, it’s always worth it in the end:

Take up or let down hems

Take in or make waistbands bigger

Transfer adjustments made to your patterns

Alter darts or seamlines

Jazzing Up: Week Four

Sometimes we might just get plain ol’ bored of what we have in our wardrobes – and that’s fine! Here are some things that you can do in week four to get your clothes to really embody your style and bring them back out into being worn:

Make sure to follow @clothingcareco on Instagram to keep up with what I’m doing this month – I have one hefty project which I think is going to keep me going for the whole of November – patching the very worn silk lining of one of my dad’s jackets!

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Caring for your clothes is something that not many of us do, but should. I’m here to teach you how to care for your clothes, without making it boring or confusing! If you have any post suggestions, send a message through the contact form!